blog #3

Blog #3: 6-26-07 ( I have decided to start dating these because who knows when they will be posted…I date them for when I right them)
I overheard somebody say today that I have been here for 20 days. I’m not really sure if time is going by fast or slow. I basically have NO sense of time whatsoever…..and its kind of nice. With everyday, I feel that I am becoming more comfortable in Sukhbaatar and am becoming more familiar with the area. At night, it is sometimes hard to find my way home, but I’ve got it down now. Even in the dark. Don’t worry….I always have somebody walk me home. It’s really cute, at night all the guys become super protective over the girls, making sure we are safe. If I’m walking with two guys down a street and we see people coming the other way, they automatically tense up, put me in the middle of them, and prepare for whatever may come. So far, I have not had any problems with being harassed by drunk people. I have had a few encounters with some drunk guys, but nothing that wouldn’t happen on an average night in California.

Alright…..for those wondering how I’m living over here, here it goes. I live in a 2 story pink brick house, in an Aimag center called Sukhbaatgar (near Russian border). It is bigger than anything I’ve ever lived in. I have electricity, but no running water, which is really not as bad as it sounds. The outhouse took some getting used to, but now it doesn’t really phase me. I definitely appreciate a toilet and a shower more than ever. I have to resort to spongebathing in my peace corps assigned pink tub. It’s not the best, but it gets me clean. I have decided that on those frustrating days, where I have extra money, I will treat myself to a shower at the bathhouse. I was so nervous when I went because I didn’t know what to expect, but it really wasn’t bad at all. It was not a big room of shower heads like I was thinking. Instead it was a row of shower stalls. You basically have your own shower room. The water was warm and it felt GREAT!! I live with a 13 year old girl, Unroe and her 17 year old friend, Segi, an 8 year old boy, and their grandparents. My host family is so nice! Unroe knows a fair amount of English, but I told her to try not to talk to me in English because it will be better for my Mongolian learning. Mongolian is a difficult language, but it is coming along. Due to the hospitality of Mongolians and the peace corps guidelines, the majority of the furniture in the household is in my room. I have a very nice set up and really can’t complain. Peace corps assigned everyone a sleeping bag, a first aid kit, a water distiller, and a mosquito net. So far, I only use the water distiller. I have found that one of the best games to share with Mongolians is UNO! They love it!! It is really a universal game and easy to catch onto. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yellow 7 thrown down with so much gumption! It’s also an easy way to practice the numbers and some colors in Mongolian. Mongolians love Enrique Iglesias! My little “doos” (the Mongolian word for younger sibling) walk around the house singing “Maria…..” personally I don’t really like this song, but they enjoy it. One day I played my Avril Lavigne CD for Unroe and she was asking me what the songs meant. They all seemed to be bitter songs about boys. Anyway, my house is about 15 minute walk from the school where all my training takes place. It’s a nice walk, but sometimes the guard dogs are a little intimidating…..so I changed my path to one with less dogs. There are sooo many dogs around here! So far there are 2 things I don’t trust in Mongolia, one is the dogs, and the other is the drivers. The dogs, you can only sometimes tell the crazy ones….of course some are really nice and sweet…..but you never know. That’s just how I feel, some of my friends are more friendly with the dogs. I have two dogs…they are nice. Dogs here NEVER live inside. They roam the streets….rummaging through trash, guarding their home, playing and mating. And for the drivers…..I don’t trust them because they are always trying to avoid potholes and other bumps in the dirt roads, so if you are walking…you never know when they are going to swerve. It’s actually kind of cute to hear the little kids yell “machine” when a car is coming. When you hear that, you get off the road and wait for the car to go by.

Sukhbaatar is amazing. I live right next to the mountains, and there are plenty of options for hikes. I have done a little exploring and will continue try new hikes. The sky is amazing! I feel like, if I climbed the right mountain I could touch the clouds. For somebody who usually hates rain, I love the rainy days here. It is absolutely beautiful! It will be a bright beautiful day, and you will be able to see the dark clouds coming. Suddenly it starts to get gloomy and you feel a wind. Suddenly, you hear bits of thunder and see lightening as if it is in a photograph. It begins to rain, but only for a little while. While it is raining, you can still see the beautiful blue sky that used to be overhead. As the dark clouds move, you feel the sun warming up your skin, and the blue sky is painted with distinct clouds of white and purple. There is really nothing like it! I always want to take pictures of the sky!